Shield
by ChiptuneImpulse
Summary: Two knights meet in the dead of night. Both girls promised to protect the ones that saved them. Second chapter up because I didn't like the first. Recommend listening to Angel Beats Firing Preparation during the bridge sequence.
1. Guardians

Bullets shed, both determined and neither giving up. After an hour of fighting and analyzing each other they knew it would result in a stale mate and both dropped their weapons.

Exhausted, Homura fainted and Aigis carried her towards home, not wanting to leave a child alone. Despite the amazing weaponry and combat skills the girl had, she looked fragile while asleep.

In her sleep Homura sniffled and sobbed: _"Madoka."_

Aigis stared at her, frozen and regained her composure and she carried her to the rooftop of her school. She did her best to keep her warm, by giving her, her jacket and cradled her like she did with Minato many years ago after the incident on the bridge.

When she was up, Homura's hair was being played with by Aigis' hand.

Instead of bolting up and getting out of there, Aigis had a heavy hand on her chest to prevent her from moving.

"My internal stablizers sense that you need nourishment, I know of a restaurant we can go to."

Homura looked at her and then the bright blue sky.

She wasn't trying to kill her now and seemed concerned so she agreed, if she died, there was no way Madoka would forgive her.

On the walk there they chatted, with Aigis leading the way to the noodle stand.

"Your aresenal of firearms is impressive." Aigis said absentmindedly while staring at some buildings she used to visit with him.

"...Yours is too despite it being...weaker in comparison." Homura fumbled.

"To be fair I've dealt with an opponent whom has employed vehicles as well as cannons, rpgs, explosives, revolvers and bows and arrows." Aigis said recounting fighting the shadows, STREGA and her own team in the Abyss of Time.

"I've mistaken you for the enemy. The real enemy has gotten away." _A demon._

"You are forgiven. I thought you were a trouble maker."_ A shadow._

After their mutual forgiveness and awkward silence, Aigis spoke up again.

"A child should not have those weapons on her." She said motherly like instead of mocking.

Homura re-examined Aigis.

She looked human enough but knew when her arm launched itself to punch her that, that wasn't the case.

"There was someone whom I protected once." Glad that the bow she wore on her head was unscathed.

Aigis stopped walking and Homura looked at her.

"You too?" She said with a tint of sadness.

"Guess we're just failures when it comes to the ones whom we care about the most." Homura said monotone.

Aigis held the girl's shoulder.

"That may be true but I'm sure that they were the ones that gave us a reason to protect us in the end."

"For the _people_ she loved." Homura said bitterly, looking up.

"For the _world_ he helped." Aigis said stared, longingly at the moon.


	2. Angels

The 25th hour in a day is a hidden time. The "dark hour" is the name it was associated with, a rumor among people.

Mikitihara is different from Tatsumi Port Island. While both are man-made, Mikitihara is beautiful with its odd designs and green friendly effiencent ways but Aigis Korijo isn't here on vacation. She's on a mission and her mission is to hunt Shadows, as a robot this is primary objective for living.

One escaped her during a skirmish in her hometown of Tatsumi Port island. A shadow, a creature born from the depths of the human psyche, a blob of darkness seeking humans to destroy.

She gets an energy reading on something unusual and knows its different from a shadow, but proceeds with caution, while checking corners on Mikitihara bridge.

Homura Akemi, is a magical girl, a girl who is bound by a contract to fight demons with time magic and weaponry from the Yakuza and military, in order to counter balance her wish. She patrols Mikitihara every night and sometimes fights along side her two friends. Tonight though is different.

She feels a palpable pain, a buzzing in her ears. Something in the air feels off. She jumps from skyscraper to building and looks around but something draws her to the Mikitihara bridge.

For a human like her though, she should be afraid of the unknown, but she is stoic and proceeds as she usually does. She wants to get the fight over with quickly, before using too much magic or else her soul gem turns her into a demon.

Yet shes caught off guard by a single bullet coming at her.

On the ropes of the bridge, both girls volley bullet shells at each other.

Homura stops time and fires everything she has, mistaking her mechanical opponent as a magical girl, with crystalline bright blue eyes, short blonde hair and fingertips that shot bullets, matched her bullets, with inhumane speed.

It rains bullets, rocket sharpnel, grenade scraps and so on on the empty bridge below luckily with no civilians around.

After an hour of fighting and analyzing each other they knew it would result in a stale mate and both have exhausted their arsenals.

As the fight concludes, so does the dark hour.

Exhausted and nearly empty of magic from all the time stops, Homura faints. She falls from the arch and Aigis uses her jet pack to rush to save her. Aigis had questions for the amethyst colored human after all.

Having carried her over some time, she tries to use a program, which uses dead skin cells to trace where she came from but with so many humans it's almost futile, so she settles for a roof top instead. It seems they both like high places.

* * *

><p><em>The face of a child, she laments.<em>

Although it was ill-advised, she put her fingers on her skin and traces the edges. There's something rough and course about it, but when her optics zoom in on the eyes, the bags there tell her everything.

She had seen the closed eyes of someone she cared for once and saw that same look and felt rigid.

In her sleep Homura sniffled and sobbed:_"Madoka."_

_Although inhuman, Aigis had feelings of loss and longing and a painful expression masked her. She held Homura tight._

Aigis did her best to keep her warm, by giving her, her jacket (which had miracously lacked any bullet holes in it) and cradled her like she did with, Minato, many years ago after the incident on the Moonlight bridge.

Memories of that time played in her mind, but she needed to focus on her present. She had to help, this girl until she awoke.

* * *

><p>Blue skies and the bright sun was the first thing Homura thought she saw. Upon closer inspection, it had been crystalline blue eyes, and golden hair.<p>

_Her opponent from last night._

Instead of bolting up and getting out of there, Aigis had a heavy hand on her chest to prevent her from moving.

"My internal stablizers sense that you need nourishment."

Homura looked at her and then the bright blue sky.

She wasn't trying to kill her now and seemed concerned so she agreed. Plus had Homura died, there was no way Madoka would forgive her.

Homura was looking for a place Kyouko, one of her two distant friends, recommended to her once and Aigis tried to make a conversation happen.

"Your aresenal of firearms is impressive." Aigis said absentmindedly staring at buildings. It reminded her of the photos Minato would take in photo club.

"...Yours is too despite it being...weaker in comparison." Homura said as fact. The cold tone wasn't helping but she had never been great with talking unless it was to a certain pink haired friend of hers.

It was funny Homura thought.

She had dealt with witches, other magical girls, aliens and demons but robots was the most surprising. Had she still been her dorky, helpless self she would have been asking a lot of questions and wanted to have studied her. Yet as a magical girl, she couldn't live a normal life and spent her time devoted to keeping the world safe for Madoka.

"To be fair I've dealt with an opponent whom has employed vehicles as well as cannons, rpgs, explosives, revolvers and bows and arrows." Aigis said recounting her memories after her reactivation.

"I've mistaken you for the enemy. The real enemy has gotten away." _A demon._

"You are forgiven. I thought you were a trouble maker." _A shadow._

Aigis spoke up again after a few minuets.

"A child should not have those weapons on her." She said motherly like instead of mocking.

Homura re-examined Aigis.

She looked human enough but knew when her arm launched itself to punch her that, that wasn't the case.

"There was someone whom I protected once. It was necessary to learn how to use weapons then." Homura reached for the pink ribbon in her hair, glad that it was untouched during their fight.

Aigis stopped walking and Homura turned to look at her.

"You too?" She said with a with a quiet tone.

"...Guess we're just failures when it comes to the ones whom we care about the most..." Homura said bitterly and a wry smile.

Aigis put a hand on the Homura's shoulder.

"That may be true but this world, is what they cared about. They left it up to us to continue and uphold their legacy." A broken smile emerged from her own face. Homura thought it was ridiculous that a robot could be this human but _she was finally glad_ that someone understood her pain and grief.

"Although painful, you will never forget. You won't forget because you don't want to fail them."


End file.
